The XP Factory
by EclipseWolf64
Summary: Three Minecraftians must stop the little-known XP Factory from its un-Minecraftian way of producing XP, but the Factory may best them at the game of sanity, madness, life, and humanity.
1. For A Good Cause

**Author's Note:**

**Yes, this is related to Minecraft. I also use famous Minecraft players in this story, so copyright disclaimer and all that stuff. "Characters not mine, story is." Done. Now read this.**

"It's for a good cause." the co-manager had stated. Then, he had turned around and muttered into the microphone on his headset. The new worker was alert in the dim light of the factory. The semi-dark chambers had taken its toll on some of the workers. Instead of basking in the sunlight, they tended to be on edge in the day. At night, they were "shadow-walkers", moving liquidly through the darkness.

The new worker glanced at the co-manager. The co-manager had brown hair, a white lab coat, and steely dark eyes. Some hair covered his left eye. The headset over his ears were somewhat worn out. The once-bright green spots on the headset were duller. His lab coat had reddish stains.

"Oh, by the way," the weathered Minecraftian looked back at the worker as he walked away. "The name's Deadlox." Deadlox scratched the back of his neck as he trotted down the catwalk.

The new worker reflected on the encounter as he headed the other direction. Stopping near a sticky piston, he peered at his reflection on the iron block.

His dark brown hair was matted. The white lab coat on him was uncomfortable. His eyes were already faded. The shorts on him were dusty and gray. He glared at his reflection. Then, Toby turned around, and headed for the Gathering.

"A few lucky 'crafters will be selected to supply us XP!" a great, booming voice announced. Looking around, Toby saw catwalks spinning around the metal room. Gazing down at the "volunteers" in the Gathering, he saw many different faces. There were frightened ones, sad ones, angry ones, and mutilated ones. Toby felt sickened when he heard a voice boast, "Aviator, you have been selected!"

A startled Minecraftian with shimmering sunglasses stepped forward slightly. His fear was temporary, for his eyes hardened into defiance.

"Then I refuse the offer." Aviator spat. Then, he disappeared. Something had teleported him away. After that, Aviator reappeared behind a glass wall.

Toby watched Aviator through the window. Pistons retracted, revealing a row of five dispensers. Aviator closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. The dispensers clicked and arrows flew out of it. Aviator's eyes flew open. The arrows slowly cut through the air, allowing him to dodge it. Yet, one arrow cut into his shoulder as it passed him.

Toby jumped forward with a start. Usually, there would be…

"Take Aviator away. I have a job for him." the mystery announcer mumbled. Toby watched as Deadlox and another employee escorted Aviator away…

Toby hadn't heard the announcer call another name, but another Minecraftian appeared in the windowed room. The dispensers gleamed as the doomed 'crafter wept pitifully. Futilely, she punched out a window, but the dispensers clicked.

There was an agonized scream. Red streaks flew onto the window. Arrows jutted out of the victim, coated in deep crimson streams. Green and yellow orbs flew around the room. Toby shuddered as Deadlox and a half-dozen other employees entered the room and dove at the orbs, kicking and wrestling. The pistons extended, hiding the dispensers. Disgusted, Toby felt something come up his throat. He spun around and ran down the catwalk.

Aviator's new job was not easy. Sure, executing a Minecraftian with the push of a button was easy, but only if his conscience allowed merciless killing. So Deadlox let him be unaware of the time of death.

"Hey, just turn around when you pull the lever." Deadlox rolled his eyes in contempt. "Now you won't be all 'Oh ho no, I killed somebody.'"

Aviator sensed Deadlox's voice wavering. Well, we're all in the same boat now. He blinked in disbelief. How would a high-ranking person demote his job? And especially in a place like this! Unless there was a way to escape. It was wishful thinking, but it was the only thing keeping the "volunteers" alive.

In the old dormitory, Toby drank water to wash out the acid taste in his mouth. He looked at his bloodied lab coat, and felt more mush in his mouth. Aviator, now a "shadow-walker", watched Toby spew yellow-green vomit out of himself.

"Oh, that was a messy occurrence…" Toby coughed. Aviator snickered silently. He retreated deeper into the darkness.

Today was Aviator's first day on the job. A half-blind Minecraftian was behind the windows. He scanned his control panel. There was one lever on the right, one on the left, and a button in the middle. The button was marked with "Emergency Only". Aviator was near the top of the execution room, above on a catwalk. This execution room had glass for a ceiling. There was a small, one-block deep trench between the Minecraftian and where pistons were going to retract.

Aviator bit his lip as he remembered what to do. First, he pulled the lever on the left. Pistons retracted, revealing molten lava, superheated to never let anybody survive. Another block was pulled away on the 'crafter's side, showing a dispenser. The half-blind victim looked around with his one good eye, not knowing where to stand. The lava flowed toward the frightened 'crafter, stopped by the trench. Aviator covered his eyes as he flicked the right lever. The dispenser clicked, sending an arrow into the doomed 'crafter's back. The Minecraftian fell into the lava, and began burning.

Aviator pulled the left lever again. The lava disappeared, leaving a flaming body behind. Aviator began to tremble, not from the cold inside the factory. Orbs fluttered in the room, and Deadlox and other employees attacked the XP.

That night, Deadlox was in his dorm. Suddenly, he collapsed onto his bed, and looked around his room. The big chest to the right of his bed was filled with a few bottles of enchanting. That would be shipped to the flea markets everywhere. He looked at the picture of his friend Sky. Blinking away tears, he felt something in him waver. Deadlox tried to sleep, but things came to mind. His many wrongs, and many coming punishments. How much XP he had collected and how many slaughtered Minecraftians it took. Deadlox began shivering. Did Notch decide whether or not he was going to the Nether now? Or would He do that after Deadlox died?

This had happened many times before, yet not as powerful as this. Deadlox was shaking so badly, but it would never match his intense fear at a big revelation: He would not enter the Palace in the Sky until he escaped the XP Factory. He fell to the floor, still shivering and making strange, non-Minecraftian sounds. Deadlox curled up on the ground, still shuddering at an extreme rate. Tears blurred his vision as he panted rapidly. Screams echoed in Deadlox's mind, screams from the many dead ones he had scavenged XP from. Something shattered within him, and a disturbingly thin smile appeared on his face.

A voice crackled in Deadlox's headset. Screaming, Deadlox tore his headset off of him. Throwing it at a wall, it shattered. Laughing and yet still quaking, Deadlox screeched, almost animal-like. He grabbed his rusty pickaxe, and started digging through the wall.


	2. Snowfall

He screamed as he sprinted through the snowy forest. No, screamed was not the real word. He screeched and whooped and laughed with mad joy. Snow fell down on him in hard layers. He grinned in an irrational elation, for he, Deadlox, was free. He was cold and hungry, but free.

The forgetting began. It was merely Minecraftian for him to force terrible memories away. Deadlox had no past. The past was dead to him. It was becoming a light-gray shadow within him. But the merest shadow has its own cunning tricks.

Deadlox's appearance was like that of a homeless 'crafter's. His pants were ripped at the knees. His white lab coat had reddish-pink stains. Deadlox's white T-shirt was also bloodstained, but the memories accompanying them were lost. His brown hair was matted, dirty, and raggedy. And deep within Deadlox's amber-brown eyes was a maddened glint.

"Hello?" a worker spoke into the microphone on his headset. "Is anybody there?" He paused before continuing. "Did Barold break your house?"

Little did the worker know that Deadlox was long gone. He frowned, then began running down the catwalk. There was another Gathering! The worker, Tobuscus (or Toby), saw a Minecraftian in the execution room. The poor 'crafter was sealed in, and water filled the room. Toby detested the way the prisoners were treated like livestock. Slaughtered at will, and killed with the push of a button!

Aviator had to admit that he had gotten desensitized to the killing. He watched the 'crafter desperately cover his mouth. No longer did he turn away. Years later, bubbles burst out of the victim. She swallowed water of unknown integrity, and went limp. After she was declared dead, Aviator flipped a switch, and water filtered out of the room. Orbs, green and yellow, floated around the room. A half-dozen workers battled for the XP. They kicked and punched and cussed violently. Aviator merely stared, noticing Deadlox wasn't there.

"Hey, Aviator." Toby tapped the watchful executioner. "Did ya know the co-manager's gone?"

"Yeah, I did." Aviator simply replied, still watching the big brawl.

"I was gonna tell him about the new demands for pre-enchanted stuff." Toby gazed at another Minecraftian, who was being torn apart by swordsmen. He turned away. "Eww, that doesn't look good."

Aviator saw the same scene. The dying Minecraftian's leg was almost severed from him. Blood marked the floor, staking new territories. The workers, armed with wooden swords, kept slashing, more and more ferociously, until the Minecraftian's eyes faded. Declared dead, XP was harvested from the remains.

Toby moaned, "I think I'm gonna…"

Aviator edged away. "Not on me, man!"

"Aviator, come to my office. " The leader of the Factory's voice boomed. Aviator ran off, leaving Toby near the control panel. Toby, so sick of the XP Factory, glanced at the "Emergency Only" button. His hand twitched, almost hitting it. Perhaps… He thought slyly.

Deadlox didn't know how long he had been traveling. The snowfall turned to hail, pelting him mercilessly. Like when he was working in the…

He shook his head, deleting the treacherous thought. Deadlox, afraid of the forgotten, threw away his lab coat. He walked further ahead, even though he couldn't feel his hands, even though he was not the most mentally stable 'crafter.

The frost cut through Deadlox, and he regretted burying the lab coat. The cold penetrated his thin shirt easily. The next thing he knew, Deadlox was laying in the snow, hidden from view. His view darted around the forest, taking in the dark brown spruce trees, the white, glittering snow, and a frozen pond, gleaming with blinding light. Deadlox was very still, as if dead. But in his mind, he was going through the nightmarish XP Factory. From the start to his point in time, he remembered everything in fine detail.

_The monsters approached further, gaining ground. He was trapped within his own cell. With a mere iron pickaxe to defend himself, Deadlox swung at a zombie with a shovel. The pickaxe gleamed as it bit into the zombie's head. He retrieved the shovel, and dispatched a skeleton with haste. His levels were going up. Five… Nine… Twenty…_

_ After the last mob was killed, Deadlox looked up weakly at shadowed 'crafters. Blood stained his pickaxe and him. It was splattered on his clothes and hair, but not as much. The strangers dragged him toward the Gathering. Deadlox had struggled, vainly driving his pickaxe between iron bars. But they were strong, and hadn't fought recently. He was weak and weary from the battle. They pulled him into the center of the Factory._

_ Concerned faces looked down at him with sympathy. Deadlox just barely heard the announcer boom his name. He snapped upward as he was teleported into a room. Four pistons retracted, showing four gleaming dispensers. Four gleaming dispensers filled with four stacks of arrows. Four stacks of arrows waiting patiently to kill._

_Deadlox quickly broke the dispensers with his trusty pickaxe. Stacks of arrows fell to the floor, now useless. With lightning speed, he hurled his pickaxe at a worker. Collecting his pickaxe from the defeated worker, Deadlox kicked another employee trying to subdue him. Eventually, many workers and employees piled onto Deadlox. His pickaxe was thrown out of his reach. In desperation, he stabbed many employees with the fallen arrows._

_ Then, a voice boomed loudly, and the fight was over. Deadlox limped over to his pickaxe, and picked it up. His clothes were dotted with blood. More blood trickled from his mouth. Deadlox looked up at the reproachful workers. Everything faded into a strange blackness…_


	3. Redemption

Toby, a prominently talented worker, sped past the snowy spruce-tree-filled woods. He was preceded by two chests in minecarts. Toby was not wearing his bloodied lab coat, unlike in the XP Factory. It would raise suspicion in the local town, and eventually get the Factory disassembled. He would've liked this prospect, but the mysterious leader of the Factory would surely execute "traitorous employees". Toby avoided this as if it were the plague.

Arriving at the town of Minington, Minecraftians flocked to Toby.

"Did you get me my Efficiency Two sword?" "What about my Fire Aspect bow?" "Got any good picks today, Toby?" Such questions bombarded Toby swiftly. He traded an enchanted iron pickaxe for a diamond, an Infinity bow for an iron block, and an Unbreaking Three sword for another diamond.

Toby traded for half of the day, then packed up and headed back to the factory. On the way there, he saw that the redstone lamps were turned on when they were usually off. That wasn't good, but he grinned slyly. Toby's plan was working!

Out in the snowy spruce woods, Deadlox was buried in snow. It was a cold, torturous white. He felt his legs weaken, and he knew frostbite was coming. Foolish worker! the winds taunted. Nobody escapes the XP Factory alive!

Because of spite, Deadlox rose up, and limped across the ice and frost. He would redeem himself and destroy the factory. Trudging through the snow, Deadlox's will kept him warm. His numb legs found strength. His head was lifted up high. And deep within his eyes, a fire burned. Deadlox was in a mad fever, thirsting only for redemption. Pure will drove hunger away. The need for repentance was a loud snarl, and Deadlox heeded its call. He traipsed through the woods, and then began sprinting towards the Factory.

With a rapid pace, Deadlox plowed through the walls with his iron pickaxe. Suddenly, he came upon redstone circuits within the walls. Suspicious, he followed the trail to…

"Intruder in the redstone!" the leader of the XP Factory boomed. Deadlox was immediately teleported into a dark room. In the dark room, he heard nothing, and saw nothing. The dark room was filled with water. Deadlox knew it was modded, because he could only float on it, unable to submerge. He was instantly frightened, and nearly hysterical. Deadlox trembled and whimpered, his voice becoming a high-pitched, continuous yelp.

Aviator yawned as he saw a Minecraftian get impaled with arrows. Only somewhat guilty, he looked down at his reflection in the control panel. And he was shocked by his reflection.

Aviator's sunglasses were no longer shiny. Instead, they were relatively duller. Gray shadows were under his eyes from pulling multiple all-nighters. The blood on his lab coat was not as faded; they had become brighter and redder. To top it off, his hair was matted, and aches all over Aviator's body began to pain him.

Leaning against the wall, Aviator was aching badly. He could barely breathe, let alone carry on with his work. In his fear, he considered pushing the emergency button. Stumbling back to the panel, Aviator jumped back when he noticed something. The emergency button had been pressed, and broken off. As if on cue, the whole Factory's lights shut off, dropping the entire building into darkness.

The factory was in a complete panic. In fact, it seemed as if Aviator was the only sane person left. Trudging through the crowd of nearly-delirious workers, Aviator was in a real mosh pit, with people packed together, extreme heat, and constant accidental head-butts.

The next thing Aviator remembered was being on the iron floor. Each employee stepped on top of him, and Aviator's body flared in pain. He laid there, and began adding up his life at the Factory. The Minecraftians he killed, the 'crafters he had bludgeoned to death. Aviator, now paralyzed with terror, blacked out.

Toby rushed toward Aviator. Blood came from the Minecraftian's mouth, and dripped onto Toby's coat. Scrapes and dirt marked his coat and hair. Undeterred, Toby carried/dragged Aviator into the hallway near the dorms. Many 'crafters were pulling things out of their chests, storing useless things. Toby was caught unaware as he was teleported into a dark room.

Deadlox was floating in the modded water near Toby. Toby shook the co-manager wildly, but Deadlox seemed to be only half-conscious. He did not turn to look at Toby. Deadlox was muted, and did not stir.

Unknown to Toby, Deadlox was in a strange half-dream. In the "dream", he saw himself in the execution room. The leader, manifested as a shadowy 'crafter, grinned evilly and raised an axe. Slashing down with a quick movement, he carved down into Deadlox's shoulder.

"Let me go! What did I do?!" Deadlox -the one in the room- screamed. Blood caked his shoulder, streaming down to the ground. Deadlox saw the leader kick his other self in the ribs. A sickening cracking came from the poor 'crafter.

Deadlox watched, stock-still. His other self began to scream an unbroken cry. The leader smiled even more viciously. Blood covered the victim's body. The dying Deadlox kept screaming, low at times, and breaking into a high-pitched yelp during others. The leader beat down upon the near-dead Minecraftian, and soon the scream became rough breathing. Deadlox was rapt at the scene, frozen in shock and fear. He leaned closer as his other self, drenched in his own blood, desperately clawed at the leader. Finally, Deadlox's copy faltered. His breathing became quieter and quieter, and ultimately stopped.

Aviator opened his eyes weakly. He stretched carefully to avoid triggering the bruises all over him. He stumbled through the Factory, quickly making his way toward the exit. The exit! It was the spider's thread to the heaven of the Outside. The desire for freedom pulled him closer, and closer-

Four workers and the new co-manager surrounded Aviator, trapping him on the catwalk. The new co-manager glared, eyeing the runaway with contempt. She leapt at Aviator, sword drawn. Without missing a beat, Aviator whirled around and sprang back at her. The two collided, but Aviator swiftly jumped onto the iron bars. Giving the five astonished workers "the Block", Aviator jumped over to the exit with haste. Walking out, he stepped into the sunlight, revering its missed warmth. He was ecstatic, sprinting away from the Factory, faster and faster…

Deadlox awoke from the odd unconsciousness. He saw Toby begin to fall into the same dementia, and quickly shook the worker.

"You can't do that, Toby!" he yelled, louder than thunder. "Don't let the leader win!" Toby stared, but light came back to his faded eyes. He blinked, and then shook his head as if to clear his mind.

"That's the trick!" Deadlox yipped and whooped. "It's the silence and dark that made me sort of hallucinate."

"And the floatiness." Toby added. "Do you have torches?"

"No, the leader cleared my inventory." Deadlox tried to stand straight in the water. He pulled out his iron pickaxe. "But I have my pickaxe."

"We're surrounded by obsidian, I think." Toby felt around to judge the room's size. "This room is small through, so there might be layers of obsidian.

"No, it's textured stone." Deadlox mined the purple rock. "If we go up, I'm sure we'll be on our way."

Deadlox broke another block, and then he heard TNT get primed. Startled, he swam away from the ticking hiss. There was a loud boom, and the water became a waterfall. Toby and Deadlox were sent down into a tiny cage…

Aviator sped down to the Factory as fast as possible. Many of the townsfolk were gathered behind him, brandishing purple-tinted swords, bows, and other tools. As he saw the Factory appear over the horizon, he pulled out some TNT. The whole mob screamed and yelled for the Factory's leader to show himself. Of course, they considered him an "it", for only an "it" would be so un-Minecraftian. Dogs snarled along with the din of the infuriated crowd. Aviator set down a few blocks of TNT, carefully so that the explosions wouldn't harm the residents of Minington. He did not waste time being ridiculously immersed in dramatic preliminaries while grabbing his flint and steel. It was not a movie!

Aviator quickly set the TNT ablaze. The crowd backed away until the TNT created a gaping hole in the Factory. All of the enraged 'crafters paraded into the Factory.

"Clear!" Aviator commanded. The workers and the people of Minington warred upon each other. It was a bloody battle, but Aviator merely placed TNT outside of the execution rooms. The prisoners joined Minington against the Factory employees. Although there were many casualties, they were mostly fallen workers.

"Jump!" Aviator called to the waiting Minecraftians. They were up on a catwalk, above a few employees. At the sound of Aviator's voice, the 'crafters leapt high into the air.

"Fall!" The 'crafters who leapt up began to descend, falling faster and faster. There was a terrified scream. One of the workers was crushed under one of the jumpers. Then, there was a loud crack. An employee grasped his leg, grinding his teeth to avoid screaming.

Aviator planted TNT near a suspiciously blank wall…

"Toby, Deadlox," the leader of the Factory murmured half to himself. "Expecting me? A finely crafted redstone computer?"

Toby flinched as pistons were heard retracting. Deadlox narrowed his eyes angrily. They saw redstone, torches, repeaters, and dozens of command blocks from behind the tiny cage.

"I suppose you're ex- er," the command blocks droned sadistically. "Anticipating a rather grievous punishment. And I am a rather merciful being! One or the other must volunteer to serve the community and give us XP.

"XP is experience points, my friends. Our community thrives upon it. The economy depends on it, and destroying the Factory would create a crushing depression. So we must sacrifice a few lives to keep the rest!

"The miners love enchanted pickaxes, paying generously for diamond picks. Then they mine up goods, and the economy flourishes. The ones who live to fight desire for an empowered blade. They battle it out with mobs and such, and give us XP. It's a rather good deal, since making it through the Factory is a fight in and out of itself. The XP is bottled, sold, and are still circulating."

"That is freakin' wrong!" Toby cried out. Deadlox glanced at him in fear. Had he condemned both of them?

"Word spreads like wildfire, Tobuscus." The command blocks sniggered. "So stop spreading rumors…"

Deadlox jumped backward as Toby was transported into an execution room. Toby punched out the windows as quickly as possible, but the pistons retracted. Deadlox swung at the iron bars imprisoning him. They cracked slightly more as the pickaxe met steel. Toby began panting more and more rapidly as four dispensers gleamed.

_Four gleaming dispensers filled with four stacks of arrows… Four stacks of arrows waiting patiently to kill…_

"Don't struggle or you'll make it worse for Toby, Deadlox!" the computer mocked.

Deadlox broke the iron bars. He raced toward the execution room with haste.

_There was an agonized scream. Red streaks flew onto the window. Arrows jutted out of the victim, coated in deep crimson streams._

Toby leaned out of the broken window. Deadlox bent down as he began to cut through the iron wall separating Toby and him. Leaning over and gazing at Toby with tear-filled eyes, Deadlox wept.

"I'm sorry, man…" Deadlox choked on his words. "I-I failed. I let the Factory beat me. It's gonna do me over if I fail again…"

"Deadlox, don't." Toby sniffled, his eyes bloodshot with tears. "It was coming. I knew it…"

"Goodbye, Toby…" Deadlox coughed, hand over Toby's.

"Goodbye, Deadlox…" were Toby's last words.

The dispensers clicked. Toby crumpled to the ground. Blood ran over the arrows' feathers, tarnishing their clean white shine. They stuck out of Toby's chest, stomach, arms, and legs. There was even one in his neck. Deadlox felt as if he was the one shot. He keeled over, hearing Toby's breath crackle one last time…

Deadlox rose up, shaking with rage. Teary-eyed with anguish. Glaring with that disgust. That disgust that came from seeing somebody laugh at a funeral, or not being very serious at an important moment.

Or hearing a robot cackle and whoop as his friend died for its own uses.

Aviator saw Deadlox begin to shatter the glass that contained the artificial monster. With speed and skill, the broken 'crafter began to cackle and whoop as he broke redstone circuits. Mocking the enraged command blocks, he trashed the chamber. After the destruction and madness, Deadlox even spat on the remains.

The conquest had been accomplished. The mission was complete. Justice had been served with a raised fist.

_Who knew that years later, Deadlox would lie awake, with the cries of the victims of the XP Factory woven into his dreams. He thought he had fully forgotten the Factory. _How many thoughts are layered with poison_, he shivered, _that brings me back to the Factory_? _

"_Remember why we do this, Deadlox," the leader of the Factory had lectured slightly. "We do this because we found a place to make money, and serve the community. And plus, the warhorses of the whole place would be put to great use. If the Factory were to collapse, the economy would be shattered. The entire server would be put into a long and hard poverty. The 'crafters would struggle to get goods, for although many love mining for the finest minerals, many perish along the way." _

_He shuddered as he thought, _What if?

_ What if he was the one meant to go, and not Toby? What if he hadn't destroyed the computer? What if he had never gotten involved with the Factory at all?_

_Only Notch knows for sure…_


End file.
